Spanish raspberry cultivation is expanding in Morocco

Spanish raspberry prices have rebounded following a sluggish start to the season, according to the global greenhouse news outlet, Hortidaily.

According to Jan van Bergeijk, the Plusberries group’s commercial director who lives in Spain for the past thirty years, demand is good at the moment, with prices ranging from €8 to €10 when leaving Spain, which depends on quality and destination.

“At the moment there is even a shortage situation and I expect that it will last until the end of February,” says Jan.

The Commercial Director emphasized that while the prices are satisfactory, it is not sufficient to compensate for the poor prices that occurred from mid-November until the start of the year when prices were often half of what they were.

Despite a poor fall crop last year, prices were good. That led more growers to plant earlier and work through an early planting season to take advantage of the higher prices. “However, this wasn’t a successful strategy, price-wise,” he says.

“January is in the middle of the planting season. December was cold and wet, so the growth was slowed. As a result, there won’t be a peak in supply,” Jan further specifies, adding that a peak in supply will most likely occur in early March, at the end of the season.

The raspberry acreage in Spain decreased 8% this year, attributed to shifts in production.

Despite declining acres in Spain, Morocco and Portugal are more than making up the difference.

“We are also following this trend and currently plants 60 hectares of raspberries. We have also grown them for four years in Morocco – we have 150 hectares there already,” Jan further explains while stating that the Moroccan crop is very “interesting in the winter” because Spain’s winters are colder and more humid so the Moroccan production has therefore provided more continuity. However, Jan noted that the COVID-19 rules make it hard to visit the North African country at the moment.

“This year’s strawberries are performing well in Spain. The supply is outpacing the demand. I don’t think these to last until the end of February, due to the cold weather,” he says.

During the winter, the number of strawberries from lit cultivation in Belgium and the Netherlands increases. These strawberries are priced differently. In addition, strawberries from Spain are experiencing higher costs.

“Spanish strawberries will need to move from bulk sales to retail sales in order to cover all these costs. The products will need to be more customer-focused,” Jan concludes.